One of Honore de Balzac's most celebrated tales, this is the story of a painter who, depending on one's perspective, is either an abject failure or a transcendental genius - or both. The story has served as an inspiration to artist as various as Cezanne, Henry James, Picasso, and New Wave director Jacques Rivette. Published here in a new translation by poet Richard Howard, The Unknown Masterpiece appears, as Balzac intended, with 'Gambara', a grotesque and tragic novella about a musician undone by his dreams.